A popular cinema motif revolves around the “coming-of-age” story: films that (usually) follow the struggle of a protagonist as they stumble from adolescence into adulthood. By analyzing such films, viewers can better understand the narrative structures at play and the reason why these films are so popular. We chose four such films to highlight & analyze: Moonlight, Best Picture winner of 2016, follows a young African-American boy discovering his sexuality & identity while dealing with his harsh life in Miami & unspoken codes of masculinity and perceived toughness; Lady Bird, directed/written by Greta Gerwig, explores the challenges of maternal relationships and the fear of leaving home through the lens of a fiercely opinionated adolescent teenage girl; Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, exemplifies the struggle of finding one’s identity in the face of massive obstacles; and Maurice shows the plight of a young man coming to terms with his sexuality in the backdrop of an oppressive early-20th century British setting. These four films, while vastly different in tone, all connect to the central idea of a “coming of age”: it is a narrative structure that is popular because of its ability to push viewers into self-reflection.